Now and then when I'm just waking up from a dream, I'm thinking, "This is brilliant. I'll have to get up and write a novel about this." Then by the time I'm awake I've either forgotten the dream or I realize how completely ridiculous and/or a novel based on it would be. (Now if someone writes a bestseller after having the same dream about a society in which everyone drives an Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, I'll feel really stupid).
I've been using the Sleep Machine app on my phone at night because I like the sound of rain while I'm sleeping, but just recently I noticed the other features it offers:
...and I can play one of those tracks along with the rainstorm.
So, in case I'm missing out on something really good, I thought I might as well try that "Lucid Dreaming" setting. No telling if it would work or not, but Stephenie Meyer dreamed up the plot for Twilight, so you never know, right? It could happen.
And it seems to have worked. I've been having really vivid dreams that I'm remembering long after I wake up. Here's a sampling of what I've dreamed about so far:
- Buying potholders. I only needed a couple, but sets of twelve were on sale! Like a really good sale! What ever should I do, people?
- I bought a container of olives at the store, but then I couldn't find them. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLIVES?
- Friends warned me that I'd get a terrible sunburn if I rode a donkey into the Grand Canyon while topless. They knew this from experience.
There you go. My next three novel plots. Move over, The Hunger Games.
Anyone else try an app like this to help you focus, be more creative, or remember your insipid dreams? Or, have you ever been lucky enough to have a dream that you turned into a book?
Can't wait to find out what I dream tonight. Maybe I'll find that jar of olives.
I'm not very organized. There are a couple layers of things covering my desk right now, for example, but I sort of know where things are. Some organizing is good for me, though, to avoid wasted time searching for things or recreating my entire year on an Excel document when it's tax time.
Same goes for my writing--I'm not much of a plotter, since I like to see the story unfold as I go. Also I usually have an idea of a few scenes that will show up at some point, so that's kind of like that knowing approximately where things are on or around my desk. But it does help to have an idea where I'm going so I don't end up chasing something shiny down a trail to randomland. Plus, I decided that my next midgrade novel will have a mystery, so I need to do enough plotting to make sure everything comes together. And there are ways for us pantsers to plot that give us a little guidance without making us feel boxed in.
I mentioned in a weekend post that I attended a brainstorming session at a local write-a-thon that was super-helpful in working out the plot of that next midgrade novel. I'd done some brainstorming on the story already, but it was kind of like "I have this character, and her family, and I think I know where they'll go, and some other stuff that happens."
Not quite enough to know where I was going. But Lynn Lorenz, who led the brainstorming sessions, took out her magical pad of paper and pen and started asking questions and writing. In about twenty minutes I left with this:
Hard to decipher if you weren't there, but I have a list of possible "culprits" for the mystery; one of those will be the real explanation or guilty party, and I'll use some of the others as red herrings. I'm not even sure yet which is going to be the real culprit yet, so I have the flexibility to allow that to be revealed as I write.
In addition to listing qualities of each character, we discussed how they're connected to one another; that's more plotting, since it's about their relationships. I'd had a minor character in mind, a cute boy that the main character meets along the way, but he'll have a bigger part than just looking cute now-- he'll work with the main character Nessie to try to solve the mystery. He may even have a clue he doesn't know is a clue. And of course Nessie's little brother will be trying to hang out with them all the time.
We also listed things about the setting (Lake Champlain, I'm thinking, and not just 'cause it'd make an awesome research trip) to consider as I write the story.
When discussing plotting again in a later session, Lynn showed a kind of plotting that reminded me of the Beat Sheet from Save the Cat!, another great resource for do-able plotting for the reluctant plotter, although this is even more flexible.
Dividing your book into four approximately equal parts, mark at the end of each section where an important turning point for your character will be. You can draw a chart on paper, but sticky notes on a posterboard or wall is more fun.
So the plan for a 20-chapter book would look like this, with one sticky note representing one chapter:
That first turning point will probably be that "point of no return," when your character has left the old life behind and is starting the new one. Knowing the other important turning points that will come up throughout the character's journey helps avoid writing a story that sags in the middle. After you figure out what those turning points will be, go back and write the scenes needed for your character to get to each one. On the remaining sticky notes you can fill in what will happen in the chapters leading up to each turning point.
For more plotting help, here are a couple of awesome resources I found online recently:
Share in the comments your favorite ways to plot! Even those of us who don't like to plot can benefit from doing just enough to keep us from getting distracted from what's important.
